The Mask star (53) had been dating the Tipperary make-up artist on and off since the couple met in 2012, and last night paid his respects to Cathriona after she passed away.

The 30-year-old Irishwoman was found dead on Monday at a property in LA, and while a post-mortem is yet to be carried out on her remains, the suspected cause of death is suicide.

Shocked

A statement released by the actor said that the star had been “hit with a lightning bolt” after hearing the news.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of my sweet Cathriona. She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled,” Carrey said.

“My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her. We have all been hit with a lightning bolt.”

Last night, a friend of the White family in Cappawhite in Co Tipperary paid tribute to Cathriona and described her as “a quiet and gentle girl”.

“Her family would be very well-known in the local community and they were very involved. Her father ran an undertaker service locally and the whole town here is in shock and absolutely devastated by the news,” local councillor Mary Hanna Hourigan told the Herald.

“Cathriona emigrated a number of years ago, but was a beautiful girl. She was quiet and gentle and absolutely beautiful.

“There’s nothing else to say, other than our hearts go out to her family.”

Speaking last night, Los Angeles assistant chief coroner Ed Winter confirmed the aspiring actress was discovered at her home on Monday night.

“Ms White was found at 8.40pm local time on Monday, September 28, at her home in Sherman Oaks,” he said. “The final cause of death has not been confirmed, pending an autopsy.”

Ms White started dating the actor three years ago, but they split in 2013.

“I did go out with an Irish girl,” he said at the time. “We’re not seeing each other anymore. But she is lovely.”

The pair later reconciled this year and were pictured walking hand in hand together in New York back in May.

However, US entertainment site TMZ reported the couple parted ways again on September 24.

On the same date, Cathriona shared her last tweet on Twitter.

“Signing off Twitter, I hope I have been a light to my nearest and dearest,” she wrote to her followers.

The petite brunette was also a frequent user of Instagram, where she quoted Irish poet WB Yeat’s The Land of Heart’s Desire last Friday.

“Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind,” she captioned one of her final posts.

“Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, and dance upon the mountains like a flame.”

While the pair did not follow one another on social media, Jim often shared

pictures which he credited to his former flame.

Training

Cathriona, a former student of St Joesph’s Convent secondary school in Doon, Co Limerick, had been based in the US for a number of years after training as a beautician at home in Tipperary.

Along with working as a make-up artist, Cathriona also had hopes of following in her famous boyfriend’s acting footsteps and had worked on the set of the online television show The Online Gamer and short film Firefly since her move to LA in 2009.

It is believed that Ms White started dating the Canadian actor after they met on set.

Carrey has previously been married twice, to actresses Melissa Womer and Lauren Holly, and famously dated Playboy model Jenny McCarthy for five years.